resort of the wise and virtuous, but there are circumstances which supersede the ordinary motives of prudence and caution. And what circumstances should be more efficient to do so, than those of a nation fighting for independence?

There is too much reason to fear that the Neapolitans will not be able long to withstand the invasion of the Allies. Yet we may be allowed to cherish a hope of the contrary, when we call to mind the names of Marathon, Platæa, Salamis,-where infant freedom dawned upon mankind. May Naples have her plains of victory for future generations to contemplate; and may her valor prove not unworthy of the sacred cause in which it is enlisted! Whatever may be the issue of the contest, the attempts of the Allies to stifle the spirit of the age must prove abortive. The progress of liberal ideas is, to use Lord Bacon's words, "a spark of fire that flies in the faces of those who seek to tread it out."

If there were a probability of the success of the Allies, the prospect before us would be dreary and dismal. The extinction of liberty has always been followed by the decay of genius and prosperity, Bear witness, Greece! In thy full flower of freedom, the glory of the earth, and the queen of wisdom, thy poets struck the string whose weakest note could wake the soul to high aspirings; thy sages reared the chaste and mighty structure of philosophy; thy orators

"Shook the arsenal, and fulmin'd over Greece,

To Macedon and Artaxerxes' thrones;"

thy heroes dared those wondrous feats which have been canonized in deathless verse! But when the constellation of thy freedom set, its satellites set with it. Thy orb of glory became extinct, and rude barbarians tread thy hallowed soil. Bear witness, Venice! The world gazes with delight at the works of art reared in the days of thy independence! Then, too, thy wisdom and thy valor made thee formidable to the foreign foe. But when the heaven-engendered thoughts of freedom were no longer thine, the arts quitted their once favored abode, and now thou art prostrate and disconsolate in bondage.

Do, then, the members of this Holy Alliance think it consistent with the principles of the religion of which they profess themselves the champions, to stifle the noblest sentiments which ever find place in the heart of man, and to blast the germs of talent? Do they consider the disregard of private rights, and the enforcement of absolute monarchy by military violence, to be precepts of Christian ethics?

Let the world be on its guard against these specious pretexts! Let it not be deceived by the mask of hypocrisy, nor be blind to the odious designs which are entertained! May Naples triumph,

and may she teach sovereigns to be cautious how they venture to trespass on the rights of freemen!

The transactions relating to it are of very great importance when considered by themselves. But when we reflect that they are combined with principles which are spread throughout Europe; when we cast our eyes around, and perceive in every quarter the same violent spirit in the rulers, and the same free and liberal notions diffused amongst the people, we cannot but be deeply impressed with the awful crisis. Whatever may take place, I pray God that England may not prove unworthy of the reputation which she has already obtained! Let not trivial differences and the instigations of private ambition distract our attention at such a moment. Let us remember that this is that great and glorious land which has not sanctioned the ideal theories of speculative republicans, nor owned the authority of imperial edicts. But, in the stead of these, she can boast of the noblest system of government, which secures to us all the liberty of a republic without its licentiousness-all the wisdom of an aristocracy without its feudsand all the strength and despatch of monarchy without despotism. Let us remember that we tread the land of patriot heroes, who have preserved this hallowed island unpolluted by foreign conquest. Be it not forgotten, that this is the country of upright statesmen, whose justice and whose integrity have shed around their native land bright and lasting rays

"And shall these labors and these honors die?"

Shall we prove unworthy of our immortal forefathers, and regardless of those blessings which they have consigned to us? It must not be it cannot be!

We have, indeed, of late lost many of those eminent men, whose assistance would have been invaluable to us at the present time. Horner, arrested by the hand of death in his mid-career of virtue; Romilly, who consecrated the most splendid talents at the shrine of the purest humanity; Grattan, whom nor the shouts of the people nor the influence of power could allure from his country's service :—these are no more! But let us hope that their examples are not left to us in vain. Distant be the day when England shall be destitute of statesmen worthy of herself!

We have still left many men of great talent and unquestionable integrity. Let us hope that they will be succeeded by others of equal ability, and that there may not be wanting those who can hand down unimpaired to posterity our liberties and honor. I could mention one illustrious youth, who, descended from a long and renowned ancestry, has already obtained a distinguished academic honor, and who seems destined to shed fresh lustre on his hereditary rank by his personal merits. But I forbear to VOL. XVIII. NO. XXXV.

Pam.

D

dwell on this topic, lest I should offend the modesty which I respect.

May the tutelary angel of this isle, which forsook us not when Spain sent forth her vaunted Armada, nor when, more recently, France threatened us with ruin, not now be absent! May that angel inspire us with fortitude to meet the dangers with which we are encompassed, and animate us with a determination to preserve our rights uninjured, and our renown unsullied!

FOR

A REFORMATION

IN THE

SYSTEM OF PROVINCIAL BANKING,

BY WHICH THE

NOTES OF COUNTRY BANKERS

MAY BE RENDERED AS SECURE AS THOSE OF

THE BANK OF ENGLAND,

AND THE

AGRICULTURISTS, MANUFACTURERS, &c. &c.

RELIEVED FROM THE

DISTRESS AND INCONVENIENCE

OCCASIONED BY

THE WANT OF A SECURE CIRCULATING MEDIUM.

WITH AN ABSTRACT OF

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER'S BILL

TO AUTHORISE BANKERS, IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND, TO ISSUE

AND CIRCULATE PROMISSORY NOTES, SECURED UPON

A DEPOSIT OF PUBLIC FUNDS, OR OTHER

GOVERNMENT SECURITIES.

"I will tell you what must be the end: The Gentlemen of Estates will all turn off their tenants for want of payment: the Farmers must rob, or beg, or leave the country: the Shopkeepers must break, or starve: for it is the Landed Man that maintains the Merchant, and Shopkeeper, and Handicraftsman." SWIFT.-Drapier's First Letter.

[Revised and Corrected for the Pamphleteer.}

LONDON:

PREFA CЕ.

THE manuscript of this pamphlet was communicated to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in February, 1817.On the 9th of April, 1818, the Right Honorable Gentleman brought a bill into the House of Commons, for carrying the plan suggested into effect, It is not surprising that a host of country bankers, several of whom have since failed, should have posted up to London, and used their utmost exertions to prevent the passing of an act which would establish a test of their solvency, and perhaps a little diminish their profits. The arguments or supplications of these gentlemen, it is to be supposed, prevailed, so far as to induce Mr. Vansittart to postpone the measure. Accordingly on the 30th of April, he moved "that the order for the first reading of the Bill, for the better regulation in the Circulation of Country Banker's Notes, be discharged;" adding, "that it was proper at the same time to say, the plan was only abandoned for the present, from a belief that some, modifications were necessary, and in the apprehension that the discussions to which it might give rise, would not be brought to a close during the session."

The necessity of adopting some such mode of security for the public, against the fraudulent issues of paper by persons of no solidity, has been abundantly confirmed by the many ruinous failures that have taken place in England since the bill was withdrawn; and volumes of arguments could not more strongly manifest the propriety of again bringing the measure before Parliament, than the circumstance of its having been stated to the Honorable House, that the deficiency of six hundred thousand pounds in the Irish revenue, had been principally occasioned by the general distress in which the failures of innumerable country bankers had involved the population!